


Te Amo

by Audrey_Lynne



Category: DuckTales (Cartoon 2017)
Genre: Awkwardness, Bisexual Fenton Crackshell-Cabrera, Character Study, Ducktales Secret Santa 2020, Fluff, Idiots in Love, LGBTQ Themes, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-08
Updated: 2021-01-08
Packaged: 2021-03-11 22:35:49
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,793
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28625052
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Audrey_Lynne/pseuds/Audrey_Lynne
Summary: Five times someone told Fenton Crackshell-Cabrera they loved him.
Relationships: Fenton Crackshell-Cabrera/Gyro Gearloose
Comments: 2
Kudos: 78





	Te Amo

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Byrdybyrd](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Byrdybyrd/gifts).



> Hi, all! It's good to be posting something again. Real life's been kicking my butt! My @ducktalessecretsanta2020 entry was written for byrdybyrd. Among their requests were: Fenton, Fenro, and Boyd. I just adore Fenton, so I was happy to get to do something focusing on him!

Gloria Cabrera slipped into her home, silently creeping down the hall to the nursery. She didn’t want to wake her husband or son, given that it was three o’clock in the morning, but she had come home on her lunch break – not to eat, but to reassure herself. Night shifts on the police force ranged from long and boring to eight hours of pure chaos, and this had been a bit of both. It started off rough, but had evened out, and Gloria was grateful for the reprieve. She’d been on the scene of a car accident earlier, and while all injured would survive, when she’d seen the tufts of wild brown hair on the wailing infant in the car seat, her heart had stopped for a moment. He’d looked a lot like Fenton – too much like her Fenton – and while the little boy only had a few nasty bruises, it had shaken her. She’d wondered how motherhood would change her outlook on life, and she was quickly learning that it wasn’t a part of her life she could check at the door when she went to work. Every child she heard screaming for their mama might as well have been hers. She’d been “Tia” to the neighborhood children since she was barely older than some of them, but being “Mama” was so much different. 

Gloria reached into the crib, lifting her son into her arms. She shushed him with practiced ease so he wouldn’t wake fully, then moved to the rocking chair, holding Fenton close. His tiny feet kicked against her arm for a moment before he settled, cooing softly to himself as he returned to sleep. Gloria brushed a kiss against his forehead as she glanced at the clock. She didn’t have long before she had to get back to work, but it would have to be long enough. “I love you so much, _mijo_ ,” she murmured. “Never forget that.”

* * *

_“And I…will always love you…”_

Eight-year-old Fenton Crackshell-Cabrera frowned at the muffled sounds of the song coming from the guest bedroom. His teenage cousin was staying with his family for the summer, but she was usually out and about, not locked in a room blaring Ducky Parton. “What’s she doing?”

Luis Crackshell sighed, glancing down the hallway. “She’s been playing it on a loop for three hours now.”

“But why?” Fenton asked, hopping into his father’s lap as soon as Luis sat down. 

“Some boy she met.” Luis shrugged.

Being a boy himself, Fenton was confused by this. “He asked her to do it?”

Luis chuckled, ruffling Fenton’s. “No, no, _chiquillo_. She likes the boy, but he doesn’t like her.”

“Why _wouldn’t_ he like her?” Fenton asked. Valeria had always seemed perfectly nice to him.

“Who knows?” Luis asked. “You can’t make anyone love you. They just…do or they don’t.”

“Oh.” Fenton still wasn’t sure he understood, but he didn’t care about mushy grownup stuff to investigate further. He bounced in his father’s lap, grinning. “Then I guess it’s good you love me, huh, Papa?”

Luis smiled widely, pulling Fenton into a crushing hug. “You’re darn right I love you."

* * *

He’d come flying out of the closet and had promptly crashed into the wall. Once he’d come to accept his bisexuality and had come out with the support of his friends and family, Fenton had shifted into “out and proud” mode. He’d always been a little “all or nothing” in his approach to life. There was nothing wrong with being out _or_ proud, of course, except that he had an unfortunate tendency to fall in love with straight men. 

Fenton had finally worked up the courage to confess his attraction to a guy in his robotics class, only to find out that his crush had no interest in other men. He’d been nice about it, at least, and let Fenton down gently, but it was still awkward and embarrassing. Fenton flopped onto his bed after returning to his dorm room, staring at the poster of Lindsay Quackner on the ceiling. It reminded him of home and afternoons with M’ma watching _The Bionic Duck_ before _Patos_ came on.

A sock puppet slowly edged its way into his peripheral vision, its googly eyes peering over the edge of his mattress, and Fenton sighed. Rooming with an elementary education major could get interesting sometimes. “Hi, Pete.”

The puppet frowned at him, shaking its head.

Groaning, Fenton revised his greeting. The puppet never responded to his roommate’s name. “Hi, Mr. Wiggles.”

True to his name, Mr. Wiggles wriggled about cheerfully. “Why so sad?”

Fenton rolled over, pointedly ignoring the puppet. “Can we do this without Mr. Wiggles?”

“Aww.” The mattress shifted as Pete sat down on the edge of Fenton’s bed. “That’s not as fun.”

Fenton sat up, moving to be next to Pete. “Christopher’s straight.”

Pete, who’d never been shy about his sexuality, sighed dramatically. “So many of the good ones are.” He frowned sympathetically, squeezing Fenton’s shoulder. “Still sucks, man.”

“Yeah.” Fenton ran a palm over his face. “And now I have to go to class and _see_ him, and it’s just so _awkward_ , and I don’t want to make it weird when I’m around him, especially if there’s a group project or something, and…”

Pete held up a hand. “Whoa, whoa. I know it’s a lot right now, but…life goes on. You’re the smartest guy in almost any room; you’ll figure it out. And he’s probably flattered you considered him.” He put an arm over Fenton’s shoulders. “Take tonight to mope about it if you want. Tomorrow, I’ll take you down to the quad and introduce you to some folks. Maybe you’ll hit it off with one of them. Maybe not. But…hey, you never know until you try.”

Fenton nodded. It still stung, but he at least felt a little better. Things certainly could have gone worse. “Right.”

“And remember,” Pete said, adapting Mr. Wiggles’ sing-song voice and raising the puppet again, “ _I_ love you!”

Shaking his head to hide his smile, Fenton shoved Pete off the bed.

* * *

As adorable as Huey and Boyd could be, Fenton had resolved to stop getting his romantic advice from children. Huey tended to stick to predictable situations, as his primary source of information was his scout guidebook – and while Boyd’s suggestions were more varied, Fenton had come to realize they had come from a fanfiction based on his favorite book series. Unfortunately, seeking out people his own age hadn’t proven to be much more successful. Launchpad’s experiences were a little too varied for Fenton to relate to, while Della hadn’t had much better luck in love than Fenton. Donald was in a successful relationship, but he claimed he had no idea how he’d managed it. 

There was always the mature approach – talk to the object of his affection directly. But Fenton was a scientist, and the most obvious solution to a problem was _not_ always the answer. Besides, if he had found a method had a proven lack of success… Except feelings weren’t an equation.

Eventually, the problem solved itself. In his typically blunt manner, Gyro Gearloose cornered Fenton in the lab one afternoon, asking, “What’s with you lately?”

As his mind had been on practical uses for Fentonium, Fenton had no idea what Gyro was asking about. “What do you mean?”

“You’ve been _weird_ around me,” Gyro accused, poking a finger into Fenton’s shoulder. “Weirder than usual, anyhow. And Boyd and the red kid keep asking me questions about you.”

Oh. So that was it. “What…kind of questions?” Had they been trying to intervene on his behalf?

“Questions that make me think you put them up to it,” Gyro said, crossing his arms over his chest. “What, do you _like_ me or something?”

“Um, yes?” Fenton squeaked out before he could stop himself, and the realization of what he’d said crashed down on him instantly. “I mean, not that it has to interfere with our professional relationship, because I don’t want it to. I completely respect you and your work and I wouldn’t want anything to get in the way of that, especially if you’re not interested in anything other than a completely collegial—”

Gyro reached out, shutting Fenton’s beak. “Hold on there.” He sighed and Fenton could have sworn he saw a mild blush rise to Gyro’s cheeks. “The truth is, I’ve considered it and…I might be able to be persuaded to think we’re compatible. I’m not exactly the easiest person to get along with, I know.” He glanced around, as if to be sure they really were alone. “Tell anyone I said that and I’ll deny it.”

Fenton chuckled in a combination of awkwardness and relief. “So…is that a yes?”

Gyro frowned, regarding Fenton for a long moment. “It’s not a no.”

A part of Fenton wished Gyro would stop being so cryptic, before it occurred to him that Gyro was probably as self-conscious and unsure as he was. “So, um, maybe we can…experiment and figure this out together?”

Gyro nodded slowly. “I would be agreeable to that.”

Four months later, when Fenton heard that first, sleepy, _“I love you,”_ whispered against his cheek before he fell asleep, he officially declared the experiment a success.

* * *

Somehow, _“Sure, we’ll watch him for the weekend,”_ had turned into an unofficial joint custody arrangement with the Drake family, and Boyd had his own room in Fenton and Gyro’s apartment. It had originally been a guest bedroom – not that they’d been planning to have many guests – but now it was Boyd’s and Fenton couldn’t have been happier. Gyro had never referred to himself as Boyd’s father, but he was stepping into the role with more and more ease. As for Fenton, he wasn’t sure exactly what his role was. Stepparent? Uncle? Buddy? Whatever he was to Boyd, Fenton adored the little guy.

Boyd didn’t, technically, need to recharge every night, but he’d adapted his schedule to that of a child of his perceived age and so he did go to bed nightly and place himself in sleep mode. Gyro usually managed the bedtime routine, but Scrooge McDuck had called him back to the lab regarding some crisis, so Fenton had taken over. There was no reason to disrupt Boyd’s schedule if they didn’t have to. 

“Did you have a good day?” Fenton asked, tucking Boyd in and making sure his rocket ship night light was plugged in and on. 

Boyd nodded, his blue eyes shining. “Yes, it was super fun.” He leaned forward, hugging Fenton, and then surprised the scientist with a kiss to the cheek. “Good night. I love you.”

Fenton swallowed hard, feeling his heart swell at the unexpected words. “G’night, buddy. I love you too.”

* * *


End file.
